Seal carving apparatus and seal carving method

ABSTRACT

A seal carving apparatus includes a thermal head having a plurality of heat generating elements disposed in lines, and thermal drive control means that performs a control process of selectively and thermally driving the individual heat generating elements while moving the thermal head and a porous material in relative to each other with the thermal head being in abutment with the porous material, thereby forming a seal face on the porous material. The thermal drive control means controls a pulse time width for thermally driving the individual heat generating elements of the thermal head under pulse width modulation control based on gradation image data having a gradation value, thereby forming a seal with a gradation on the porous material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/885,178, filed Oct. 16, 2015, the entirety of which is incorporatedherein by reference, and claims the benefit under 35 USC §119(a)-(d) ofJapanese Patent Application No. 2014-222081 filed on Oct. 30, 2014.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a seal carving apparatus for a porousmaterial, and a seal carving method in the seal carving apparatus.

2. Description of Related Art

A seal carving apparatus performs thermal carving of selectively andthermally driving individual heat generating elements of a thermal headwhile moving a workpiece of a porous material and the thermal head inrelative to each other with the thermal head abutting on the workpieceto thereby form a desired seal on the porous material in order toproduce a porous stamp (see Patent Literature 1, for example). Theporous material having the seal processed by the seal carving apparatusis mounted on an ink impregnated member attached to a holder, so that astamp having a seal pattern as ordered by a customer is assembled.Recently, seal carving apparatuses have been demanded of generalversatility that permits carving of stamps or label sheets with variousseal patterns and various sizes in response to customers' requests, andof convenience that permits anyone to operate the seal carving apparatusin a shop. To this end, a porous material is set on a dedicatedattachment that fits the carving size of a porous stamp, and theattachment is mounted on the seal carving apparatus for seal carving.

The basic operation of a seal carving apparatus for seal carving is toperform melt-solidification on the top surface of a porous material witha thermal head to form a non-impression part where porousness is lost.Therefore, it is possible to process a monochromatic seal by performingON/OFF control of driving heat generating elements for a non-printportion (non-impression part) on which the thermal head abuts, and notdriving heat generating elements for a print portion (impression part).However, such simple ON/OFF control rings about a problem such that heatfrom the heat generating elements located at the edge of thenon-impression part is transmitted to the region of an adjoiningimpression part. As a result, part of the porousness (ink permeability)of the contour of the print portion is lost, which may deform thecontour with respect to the original image data. As one of solutions tosuch deformation of a print, a carving control method of separating aone-line ON/OFF heating process with the thermal head into pluralsub-processes has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Literature 2).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2014-43092

Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2009-208294

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

However, the conventional carving method of separating theaforementioned one-line ON/OFF heating process into plural sub-processeshas a problem such that increasing the number of gradations to improvethe accuracy of carving a seal needs a greater number of heatingprocesses, making the time for carving the entire seal.

The invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it is anobject of the invention to provide a seal carving apparatus thatthermally drive a thermal head to form as seal on a porous material, andcan accurately form, for example, the contour or the like of a printportion.

Means for Solving the Problems

To solve the aforementioned problem, the invention is a seal carvingapparatus including a thermal head having a plurality of heat generatingelements disposed in lines, loading means that moves the thermal headand a porous material in relative to each other with the thermal headbeing in abutment with the porous material, and thermal drive controlmeans that performs a control process of selectively and thermallydriving the individual heat generating elements line by line whilemaking the relative movement to carry out melt-solidification of theporous material, thereby forming a seal,

wherein the thermal drive control means performs PWM control on a pulsetime width for thermally driving the individual heat generating elementsbased on gradation image data having a gradation value to form the sealon the porous material.

The seal carving apparatus with this configuration can accurately form aseal having a gradation as specified by given gradation image data.Further, with the same carving accuracy, the carving time can beshortened compared with the conventional apparatus.

The thermal drive control means in the seal carving apparatus mayperform PWM control on driving amounts of the individual heat generatingelements with a duty ratio of the pulse time width for a period of amodulation base signal which differs from a period of a carving periodsignal for forming one line of the seal. In this case, it is preferablethat the period of the modulation base signal should be set shorter thanthe period of the modulation base signal for forming one line of theseal.

This configuration can provide a uniform driving amount for theindividual heat generating elements during a period of one-line carving.Accordingly, it can be expected to reduce residual heat in the thermalhead, thereby reducing the influence of heat transmitted to a nearbyporous material.

Further, the thermal drive control means in the seal carving apparatusmay control the pulse time width by setting an amplitude of a drivecurrent that is supplied to the individual heat generating elementsconstant.

This configuration can eliminate the influence of the power to besupplied (amount of heat generated) even when the heating of the heatgenerating elements changes the electric resistance, thereby ensuringthe carving accuracy.

Furthermore, the seal carving apparatus may further include gradationdata preparing means that prepares the gradation image data having thegradation value based on monochromatic image data representing a givenseal pattern, and driving amount conversion means that converts theprepared gradation image data to driving amount data of the individualheat generating elements, wherein the thermal drive control means mayperform PWM control on driving amounts of the individual heat generatingelements with a duty ratio corresponding to the driving amount data.

This configuration makes it possible to accurately form a seal having agradation applied to given monochromatic image data.

Moreover, the gradation data preparing means in the seal carvingapparatus may prepare gradation image data corrected in such a way thata pixel value monotonously changes stepwise in a boundary region where avalue of the monochromatic image data is inverted.

This configuration makes it possible to accurately form a seal asspecified by given monochromatic image data, which has the contour of aprint portion subjected to gradation correction.

The invention is also a seal carving method in a seal carving apparatusincluding a thermal head having a plurality of heat generating elementsdisposed in lines, and control means that performs a control process ofselectively and thermally driving the individual heat generatingelements while moving the thermal head and a porous material in relativeto each other with the thermal head being in abutment with the porousmaterial, thereby forming a seal on the porous material, the sealcarving method including the steps of causing the control means toconvert gradation image data having a gradation value to driving amountdata of the individual heat generating elements, and causing the controlmeans to perform PWM control on driving amounts of the individual heatgenerating elements with a duty ratio corresponding to the drivingamount data.

This seal carving method can accurately form a seal having a gradationas specified by gradation image data. Further, with the same carvingaccuracy, the carving time can be shortened compared with theconventional method.

The seal carving method may further include the step of causing thecontrol means to prepare the gradation image data based on monochromaticimage data representing a seal pattern.

This seal carving method makes it possible to accurately form a sealhaving a gradation applied to given monochromatic image data.

In the seal carving method, the control means may prepare the gradationimage data corrected in such a way that a pixel value monotonouslychanges stepwise at a boundary where a value of the monochromatic imagedata is inverted.

This seal carving method makes it possible to accurately form a seal asspecified by given monochromatic image data, which has the contour of aprint portion subjected to gradation correction.

The invention is also a method of producing a porous stamp using a sealcarving apparatus including a thermal head having a plurality of heatgenerating elements disposed in lines, and control means that performs acontrol process of selectively and thermally driving the individual heatgenerating elements while moving the thermal head and a porous materialin relative to each other with the thermal head being in abutment withthe porous material, thereby forming a seal on the porous material, theseal carving method including the steps of causing the control means toconvert gradation image data having a gradation value to driving amountdata of the individual heat generating elements, and causing the controlmeans to perform PWM control on driving amounts of the individual heatgenerating elements with a duty ratio corresponding to the drivingamount data.

Moreover, the invention is a porous stamp produced using a seal carvingapparatus including a thermal head having a plurality of heat generatingelements disposed in lines, and control means that performs a controlprocess of selectively and thermally driving the individual heatgenerating elements while moving the thermal head and a porous materialin relative to each other with the thermal head being in abutment withthe porous material, thereby forming a seal on the porous material,wherein based on monochromatic image data representing a given sealpattern, the control means prepares gradation image data corrected insuch a way that a pixel value monotonously changes stepwise in aboundary region where a value of the monochromatic image data isinverted, and the control means thermally drives the individual heatgenerating elements by a driving amount based on the gradation imagedata, thereby forming a seal with a gradation on the porous stamp.

Effects of the Invention

The seal carving apparatus and the seal carving method according to theinvention can accurately form a seal having a gradation as specified byimage data. For example, it is possible to accurately form a seal, whichhas the contour of a print portion subjected to gradation correction.Further, with the same carving accuracy, the carving time can beshortened compared with the conventional apparatus and method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating the general configuration of aseal carving system including a seal carving apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration ofthe seal carving apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a two-side view illustrating a head surface and a side surfaceof a thermal head.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the exterior appearance of aporous impression die to be set on an attachment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the porous impression dieto be set on the attachment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the porous impression die at thetime of thermal carving.

FIG. 7 is a diagram exemplifying artwork data, gradation image data,driving amount data, and the cross section of a porous material.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a control device includingthermal drive control means.

FIG. 9 is a time chart exemplifying waveforms a modulation base signaland a drive current pulse according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a time chart exemplifying waveforms of a modulation basesignal and a drive current pulse according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a front view of an attachment for a porous impression die.

FIG. 12 is a diagram exemplifying dot patterns predetermined incorrespondence to the types of workpieces.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of reading means.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment according to which thereading means examines the setting state of a workpiece.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing how to assemble a stamp with aporous impression die having a seal formed thereon.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating seal carving in the seal carvingapparatus.

FIG. 17A is a diagram for describing a seal carving operation in theseal carving apparatus.

FIG. 17B is a diagram for further describing the seal carving operationin the seal carving apparatus.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing a seal carving operation accordingto another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Description of GeneralConfiguration of Seal Carving System

The following describes in detail a specific embodiment of a sealcarving apparatus according to the invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating thegeneral configuration of a seal carving system including a seal carvingapparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG.1, the seal carving apparatus 10 is communicatably connected with aterminal device 90 serving as input manipulation means which is operatedby a user (including an operator and a customer). FIG. 1 illustrates anexample of a personal computer (PC) as the terminal device 90. It is tobe noted however that the terminal device is not particularly limited toa PC, but may be anything including means that is communicatable withthe seal carving apparatus 10 and with which a user can perform an inputmanipulation; for example, a portable terminal device such as a tabletPC or a smartphone may be available. Further, instead of a terminaldevice, a touch-panel type computer may be integrally connected to theseal carving apparatus 10 in the system.

A seal pattern of a stamp that a customer orders is prepared by, forexample, editor software that runs on the terminal device 90, theprepared seal pattern (artwork data, monochromatic image data) istransmitted to the seal carving apparatus 10. Image data read out by ascanner, a camera or the like may be fetched into the terminal device90, and seal pattern data may be prepared using dedicated software.Further, a customer may upload seal pattern data to a host server on aWeb site in advance, and a member of a workshop may download the sealpattern data onto the terminal device 90, and carves the seal patterndata with the seal carving apparatus 10.

(Description of Seal Carving Apparatus)

Next, the body of the seal carving apparatus 10 is described inconnection to the porous impression die 101 which is a stamp as a kindof the workpiece by way of example. The seal carving apparatus 10selectively and thermally drives individual heat generating elements 12a on a thermal head 12 while relatively moving the thermal head 12 andthe porous impression die 101 in abutment with each other to achievemelt-solidification of a porous material, thereby implementingline-by-line formation of a seal. The term “abutment” means that theheight position of the thermal head 12 matches with the height positionof the top surface of the workpiece (porous impression die 101). If theheat of radiation from the thermal head 12 heats and melts the porousmaterial, the state where the thermal head 12 faces the porous materialwith a gap of microns therebetween is included in “abutment.” The statewhere the heat from the thermal head 12 is loaded to the porous materialvia an intervention of a resin film or the like is also conceptuallyincluded in “abutment.” The term “relative movement” may be the movementof the porous impression die 101 with the position of the thermal head12 fixed, or the movement of the thermal head 12 with the position ofthe porous impression die 101 fixed. An embodiment of the formerconfiguration of moving the porous impression die 101 with the positionof the thermal head 12 fixed is described herein.

The seal carving apparatus 10 includes a tray 15 which is means forloading the attachment 50. The tray 15 is reciprocally loaded between adischarge position where the attachment 50 can be attached or detachedand an accommodation position inside the seal carving apparatus 10 by aloading mechanism 16 (see FIG. 2) provided inside the seal carvingapparatus 10. A display part 18 that displays the operational state ofthe apparatus (completion of preparation, mounting of the attachment,reading data, printing, discharge of the attachment, an error, etc.),the type of the workpiece (kind and carving size), and the like incharacters or the like, and manipulation switches for performing variousmanipulations, etc. are provided on the front surface portion of theseal carving apparatus 10. A communication connector, such as USB, D-SUBor Ethernet (registered trademark), for communicative connection to theterminal device 90, a power supply connector, and the like, though notillustrated, are provided on the rear surface portion of the sealcarving apparatus 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration ofthe seal carving apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. Theseal carving apparatus 10 includes the thermal head 12 having aplurality of heat generating elements 12 a, 12 a, . . . , the attachment50 on which the porous impression die 101 is set, a loading mechanism 16that relatively moves the porous impression die 101 set on theattachment 50 and the thermal head 12 in abutment with each other, and acontrol device 11 that performs a thermal carving control of thermallydriving the heat generating elements 12 a, 12 a, . . . on the thermalhead 12 while controlling the movement loaded out by the loadingmechanism 16 to form a seal on the top surface of the porous impressiondie 101.

FIG. 3 is a two-side view illustrating the head surface and the sidesurface of the thermal head 12. As illustrated in this diagram, theplurality of heat generating elements 12 a, 12 a, . . . are disposed ina line at equal intervals on the head surface of the thermal head 12(the surface that abuts on the porous impression die 101 to be subjectedto seal carving). The layout pitch of the heat generating elements 12 a,12 a, i.e., the size of a single heat generating element 12 a isequivalent to the theoretical minimum carving pixel size of sealcarving. The dot density of the heat generating elements 12 a on thethermal head 12 may be set to, for example, 300 dpi (dots/inch) or so.As thermal drive means 13 selectively supplies the individual heatgenerating elements 12 a, 12 a, . . . within a period of the curvingcycle of one line under control of the control device 101, the thermalhead 12 forms a single line of the seal on the porous impression die 91.The thermal head 12 is moved, under control of the control device 11,between the positions of the thermal head 12 close to and away from theworkpiece, by an elevation mechanism 14.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the exterior appearance of theporous impression die 101 to be set on the attachment 50. FIG. 5 is across-sectional view of the porous impression die 101. As illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5, the porous impression die 101 is formed to have arectangular enclosing frame 103 and a porous film 102 stretched so as toblock the upper surface opening of the frame 103. The term “frontsurface” or “top surface” refers to the surface of that side where aseal is to be formed, and the term “rear surface” or “bottom surface”refers to the surface of a side opposite to that side where a seal is tobe formed. The rear surface opening of the frame 103 is formed widerthan the front surface opening, and a recessed step 106 is formed insidethe frame 103 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The frame 103 with such a shapeis molded of, for example, a thermoplastic resin having a small thermaldeformation.

The material for the porous film 102 is not particularly limited as longas it is a porous material whose top surface can be heated and melted bythe thermal head 12. The raw materials available for the porous materialmay include, for example, thermoplastic elastomers of styrene type,vinyl chloride type, olefin type, polyester type, polyamide type, andurethane type. To obtain porousness, a filler, such as starchy, sodiumchloride, sodium nitrate or calcium carbonate, and a row material resinare kneaded into a sheet with a heating/pressuring kneader, a heatingroller or the like, and after the sheet is cooled, the filler is elutedwith water or dilute acid water. The melting temperature of the porousmaterial prepared by this method is the same as that for the rawmaterial resin. Adding an accessory component, such as pigment, dye ororganic substance, to the resin permits adjustment of the meltingtemperature of the porous material. The melting temperature of theporous material is, for example, 70° C. to 120° C.

The porosity and pore diameter of the porous film 102 can be adjusted bythe particle size of the dissolved material to be kneaded and thecontent thereof. The porosity of the porous film 102 according to theembodiment is, for example, 50% to 80%, and the pore diameter thereof is1 μm to 20 μm. The porous film 102 may have a double-layered structurewith the lower layer (rear surface side) having a pore diameter of 50 μmto 100 μm. The porous impression die 101 which is the target for sealcarving is prepared by the porous film 102 thermally fused to theperiphery (front end face) of the front surface opening of the frame103.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the porous impression die 101 at thetime of thermal carving. As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the porousimpression die 101 is set on the attachment 50 as the recessed step 106is fitted over a projecting step 52 of a pedestal 51 from the bottomside of the frame 103. With the porous impression die 101 set on thepedestal 51 of the attachment 50, the horizontal position of the bottomsurface of the porous film 102 coincides with that of the top surface ofthe projecting step 52, so that both surfaces preferably contact witheach other. In other words, the frame 103 of the porous impression die101 is held on the fitting pedestal 51, the bottom surface of the porousfilm 102 is received by the top surface of the projecting step 52. Asthe porous impression die 101 is moved in a direction orthogonal to theline of the thermal head 12 abutting on the top surface of the porousimpression die 101 set on pedestal 51, line-by-line seal carving iscarried out.

When the heat generating elements 12 a are driven with the thermal head12 in direct contact with the top surface of the porous impression die101, the heated and melted porous material is adhered to the thermalhead 12, which causes an inconvenience of increasing the frictionalforce or inadequate prepressing. To overcome those problems, a resinfilm (not shown) may be intervened between the porous impression die 101and the thermal head 12. Such a resin film needs to have a heatresistance with a higher melting point than that of the porous materialused for the porous impression die 101, and low friction and smoothnessthat do not cause the seal to furrow. As to the resin film, poly filmsof materials such as cellophane, acetate, polyvinyl chloride,polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate,polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyimide, may be used. The intervention ofsuch a resin film can reduce the influence of the residual heatremaining in the thermal head 12 in addition to the prevention offurrows of the porous material.

The heating value Q when one heat generating element 12 a on the thermalhead 12 is driven is expressed by the following formula 1.

Q=k×I×t  (1)

where k is the thermal conversion efficiency coefficient, I is the drivecurrent, and t is the drive time. According to the formula 1, theheating value Q of the heat generating element is proportional to theamount of drive Dq (Dq=I×t) which is the product of the drive currentand the drive time.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, artwork data representing a seal pattern to bestored in a memory in the terminal device 90 is of a binary(monochromatic) bit map form. For example, the pixel value of what iscalled “black” corresponds to the print portion (impression part) of astamp is “1,” and the pixel value of what is called “white” correspondsto the non-print portion (non-impression part) of a stamp is “0.” Thisbinary artwork data representing a seal pattern to be carved is referredto as “monochromatic image data.” The basic operation of seal carving inthe seal carving apparatus 10 is to thermally drive the heat generatingelements 12 a on the thermal head 12 to heat and melt the top surface ofthe porous impression die 101 which is in abutment with the thermal head12 for solidification of the top surface, so that the non-impressionpart which has lost the porousness is formed on the top surface of theporous impression die 101. Therefore, basically, the control device 11can carve a seal by performing what is called ON/OFF control of notdriving the heat generating elements corresponding to the print portion(impression part) (Dq=0) and driving the heat generating elementscorresponding to the non-impression part (Dq=Dqmax) according to themonochromatic image data.

However, such simple ON/OFF control according to binary monochromaticimage data brings about a problem such that the residual heataccumulated in the thermal head 12 is loaded at the position of the edgeof the non-impression part to the region of a nearby impression part. Asa result, part of the porousness (ink permeability) of the contour ofthe print portion is lost, which may bring about an inconvenience suchthat the contour becomes narrower than that of the original image dataor is deformed or the like. To prevent such deformation of a print, theterminal device 90 according to the embodiment includes gradation datapreparing means that prepares gradation image data having, for example,gradation of 8 bits (256 gray scales) based on monochromatic image data.

The gradation data preparing means included in the terminal device 90,for example, prepares gradation image data corrected so that the pixelvalue monotonously changes stepwise in the boundary region (region atwhich the values of white and black are reversed) between the printportion (impression part) and the non-impression part of monochromaticimage data as illustrated in FIG. 7. “Monotonous change” referred toherein includes a case where gradation image data is correctednon-linearly based on monochromatic image data. Driving amountconversion means included in the control device 11 converts the preparedgradation image data to data on the driving amount of each heatgenerating element 12 a on the thermal head 12. At the time ofcalculating the driving amount Dq of the heat generating elements 12 a,the driving amount conversion means can consider the correlationproperty between the driving amount of the heat generating elements andthe porousness (ink permeability).

Now, the permeation ratio of ink which is an index indicating theporousness quantitatively can be defined as a permeation ratio which isnormalized with the initial porosity of the porous material beforethermal carving being regarded as 1 (100%) and the porosity of theporous material after the heat generating elements are driven with themaximum driving amount (Dq=Dqmax) for thermal carving being regarded as0 (0%). Because the porous material contracts slightly and changes itsthermal conductivity according to heating and melting, the drivingamount of the heat generating elements and the ink permeability may notnecessarily be proportional to each other. Accordingly, non-linearcorrelation property data between the driving amount of the heatgenerating elements and the ink permeability, which has been measuredthrough an experiment or the like beforehand, is stored in the memory(e.g., ROM 19 b or the like) of the terminal device 90 or the controldevice 11.

The gradation data preparing means may prepare gradation image datacorrected based on monochromatic image data in view of theaforementioned non-linear correlation property (relation between thedriving amount of the heat generating elements and the inkpermeability). In this case, gradation image data having a relation suchthat the gradation value of the gradation image data and the drivingamount of the heat generating elements are proportional to each other isprepared, so that the driving amount conversion means in the controldevice 11 can obtain driving amount data from the gradation image datadirectly (specifically, without performing the non-linear correction orthe like).

Thermal drive control means 24 included in the control device 11performs PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control on the thermal drive means13 to control the individual heat generating elements 12 a on thethermal head 12 with the thermal driving amount Dq according to thethermal drive data, thereby forming a seal face on the porous impressiondie 101 line by line. The PWM control is the method of setting theamplitude of the drive current which flows into the heat generatingelements 12 a constant and controlling the pulse duration (duty ratio)to thereby control the driving amount Dq to the heat generating elements12 a. Alternatively, the thermal driving amount Dq may be controlledunder PWM control with the amplitude of the voltage to be applied to theheat generating elements 12 a being set constant.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of the control device 11 includingthermal drive control means 24. An oscillator 21 illustrated in FIG. 8outputs a basic clock signal of a predetermined period. The oscillator21 may be a system clock signal source that causes the CPU of thecontrol device 11 to operate. The basic clock signal output from theoscillator 21 is frequency-divided by a frequency divider 25. Then, asecondary clock signal frequency-divided is supplied to the line periodsignal generator 22. The line period signal generator 22 generates aline period signal based on this secondary clock signal. The “lineperiod signal” herein is a signal synchronous with a period for one-linecarving. While the seal carving apparatus 10 is in carving operation,loading control means 23 controls the loading mechanism 16 insynchronism with the line period signal to move the porous impressiondie 101 line by line.

The frequency divider 25 provides a base signal counter 27 of thethermal drive control means 24 with another secondary clock signal. Thesecondary clock signal to be supplied to the base signal counter 27 andthe line period signal may have the same frequency, or may havedifferent frequencies. The base signal counter 27 counts the secondaryclock signal to generate a triangular-wave modulation base signal asillustrated in FIG. 9, for example. The base signal counter 27 is ananalog output counter that outputs a count value of clock signals interms of a voltage value. Upon reception of the line period signal fromthe line period signal generator 22, the base signal counter 27 reststhe count value, and restarts counting from zero. The base time width ofPMW control, which is the period of the modulation base signal, isdetermined based on the period of the clock signal supplied to the basesignal counter 27 and the maximum count value of the base signal counter27.

The thermal drive control means 24 determines a duty ratio correspondingto driving amount data for each heat generating element 12 a, andsupplies a PWM gate signal having a pulse time width with that dutyratio to an associated transistor in the gradation image data thermaldrive means 13. FIG. 9 is a time chart exemplifying waveforms of themodulation base signal under PWM control and a drive current pulse Ipfor thermally driving the heat generating elements 12 a, according to afirst embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, the lineperiod signal which is a carving period signal for one line, and themodulation base signal are synchronized with each other in the sameperiod (same frequency). Therefore, the driving amount Dq for each heatgenerating element 12 a (current amplitude of the drive current pulseIp×pulse time width) is determined by the duty ratio of the pulse timewidth with respect to the period time of the line period signal. Thethermal drive control means 24 drives the individual heat generatingelements 12 a at the duty ratio corresponding to the driving amount dataunder PWM control.

To give a further description with reference to the example of FIG. 9,with driving amount data being stored in a RAM 19 a, for example, whendriving amount data to a certain heat generating element 12 a is 40/256of the maximum driving amount Dqmax, the thermal drive control means 24sets a duty ratio DT1 to 40/256, and generates a PWM gate signal withthat duty ratio DT1. More specifically, a DA converter 28 inputs athreshold signal Th1 of a voltage value corresponding to the value40/256 of the driving amount data to a comparator 29. The comparator 29compares the modulation base signal, which is a triangular-waveformperiod signal, with the threshold signal Th1, and supplies a gate signalthat is enabled only when the voltage of the threshold signal Th1 ishigher than the voltage of the modulation base signal into theassociated transistor in the thermal drive means 13. The thermal drivemeans 13 supplies a drive current pulse Ip1 amplified to a certaincurrent amplitude to the associated heat generating element 12 a onlyfor the ON duration of the gate signal. Accordingly, the heat generatingelement 12 a is driven under PWM control with the duty ratio DT1corresponding to the driving amount data.

In this manner, the thermal drive control means 24 controls the pulsetime width for thermally driving the individual heat generating elements12 a on the thermal head 12 according to the driving amount dataprepared based on the gradation image data. This makes it possible toaccurately form an impression part as specified by given image data,which has the contour of a print portion subjected to gradationcorrection. Further, with the same carving accuracy, the carving timecan be shortened compared with the conventional apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a time chart exemplifying waveforms of the modulation basesignal under PWM control and a drive current pulse Ip for thermallydriving the heat generating elements 12 a, according to a secondembodiment. In the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the lineperiod signal which is a carving period signal for one line, and themodulation base signal are synchronized with each other in differentperiods (different frequencies). In this case, the driving amount Dq foreach heat generating element 12 a is determined by the duty ratio of thepulse time width of the drive current with respect to the period time ofthe modulation base signal. The thermal drive control means 24 drivesthe individual heat generating elements 12 a at the duty ratiocorresponding to the driving amount data under PWM control.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the carving period for forming one line ofa seal is set shorter than the period of the modulation base signal.Shortening the period of the modulation base signal makes uniform thedrive current pulse Ip to be supplied to the individual heat generatingelements 12 a on the thermal head 12 during a one-line carving period.This makes it possible to reduce residual heat in the thermal head 12,thereby reducing the influence of heat that is transmitted to a nearbyporous material. It should be noted that the modulation base signalunder PWM control should not necessarily be synchronized with the lineperiod signal to expect similar effects.

The seal carving apparatus 10 according to this embodiment may alsoperform seal carving with gradation given to the contour of the printportion, a logo or the like to decorate the print using theabove-described gradation data preparing means, driving amountconversion means and thermal drive control means. In this case, thepattern data (artwork data) of the seal which is decorated withgradation or the like may have gradation values beforehand.

Next, the attachment 50 which is mounted on the seal carving apparatus10 is described. A workpiece for the seal carving apparatus 10, such asthe porous impression die 101, is set on the attachment 50. FIG. 11 is afront view of the attachment 50 for the porous impression die 101. Thepedestal 51 that is fitted over the bottom side of the porous impressiondie 101 is formed on the top surface of the body of the attachment 50. Arow of perforations 53, 53, . . . of a dot pattern predetermined incorrespondence to the type of a workpiece to be set is formed through apart of the body of the attachment 50. Additionally, a notch 55 cut awayin a U shape from an end of the attachment 50 to part of the pedestal51.

FIG. 12 exemplifies an example of the dot patterns predetermined incorrespondence to the types of workpieces. A dot pattern for identifyinga type of a workpiece and/or a type of the attachment 50 is an arraypattern of the combination of the perforations 53, 53, . . . and blanks54, 54, . . . . Here, “blank” means a region in the dot pattern whereperforations are not formed in the body of the attachment 50. Asapparent by referring to FIG. 12, for example, the dot pattern of theperforations 53, 53, . . . illustrated in FIG. 11 is ‘01011’ in binarynotation, which makes it possible to identify that the attachment is ofa type “4” for a workpiece whose kind is “stamp,” and whose carving sizeis “15×90 mm.”

The seal carving apparatus 10 includes reading means that reads a dotpattern of the perforations 53, 53, . . . at the position where theattachment 50 is mounted. The “position where the attachment 50 ismounted” may be either the position at which the attachment 50 is placedon the discharged tray 15, or the position at which the attachment 50 isslightly loaded into the seal carving apparatus 10 (first load-inposition). This reading means may include, for example, photodiodes 17Sthat emit light from below the attachment 50, and photodetectors 17Dthat are disposed above the attachment 50 and opposite to thephotodiodes 17S (transmissive photosensor), as illustrated in FIG. 13.Alternatively, the configuration may have the photodiodes 17S providedabove the attachment 50, and the photodetectors 17D provided under theattachment 50. If the number of the dots of a perforation pattern isfive, for example, photosensors including five pairs of photodiodes 17Sand photodetectors 17D corresponding to the positions of theperforations 53 and the blanks 54 should be provided. According to theconfiguration of this transmissive sensor type reading means, the lightemitted by the photodiode 17S and passing through the perforation 53 isdetected by the photodetector 17D. When the light emitted by thephotodiode 17S is blocked by the blank 54, on the other hand, thephotodetector 17D do not detect light.

In another embodiment of the reading means, though not illustrated,reflective photosensors that read the pattern of blanks 54, 54, . . .may be provided. In a further embodiment of the reading means, amechanical switches that read the pattern of perforations 53, 53, . . .and blanks 54, 54, . . . may be provided.

The transmissive or reflective photosensors 17S, 17D can read the dotpattern 53, 54 in a non-contact manner. Accordingly, misalignment or thelike of the attachment 50 which would otherwise be caused by anunnecessary contact to read the dot pattern 53, 54 does not occur, sothat the accuracy of the relative positional relation between theworkpiece and the thermal head 12 can be maintained.

The photosensors 17S, 17D which constitute the above-described readingmeans included in the seal carving apparatus 10 also serve to examinethe setting state of a workpiece on the attachment 50 at the positionwhere the attachment 40 is located at the carving start position or theload-in position. That is, the notch 55 cut away up to part of thepedestal 51 is formed in the body of the attachment 50, so that when theporous impression die 101 as a workpiece is set on the pedestal 51, thenotch 55 is blocked by part of the porous impression die 101. Asillustrated in FIG. 14, as the photosensors 17S, 17D read the state ofthe notch 55, the setting state of the porous impression die 101 on theattachment 50 is examined. When the light emitted toward the notch 55from the photodiodes 17S is blocked by part of the porous impression die101 so that it is not detected by the photodetectors 17D, it is possibleto determine if the workpiece is set properly or not on the attachment50.

According to this configuration, the reading means (photosensors 17S,17D) that read the dot patterns 53, 54 of the attachment 50 can alsoexamine the setting state of a workpiece on the attachment 50.Accordingly, even when the attachment 50 is mounted on the seal carvingapparatus 10 without a workpiece set on the attachment 50 or even whenthe attachment 50 is mounted on the seal carving apparatus 10 with aworkpiece improperly set on the attachment 50, initiation of the carvingprocess can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent animproper processing manipulation or the like in advance, enhancing theuser's convenience. Moreover, the reading means (photosensors 17S, 17D)serve to perform two functions of reading the dot patterns 53, 54 of theattachment 50 and examining the setting state of a workpiece, so thatthe general configuration of the seal carving apparatus 10 can besimplified.

(Description of Seal Carving Method)

Next, a seal carving method using the seal carving apparatus 10according to the embodiment is described in connection to thefabrication of the porous stamp assembly 100 as an example.

1. Operation the User Performs

First, a user (including a customer) inputs data (monochromatic artworkdata) of a seal pattern of a stamp to be created via the terminal device90. The seal pattern data may be prepared with dedicated software.Further, text data prepared by the user in advance may be input to theterminal device 90. Furthermore, image data read out by a scanner, acamera or the like may be fetched into the terminal device 90. Then, theuser inputs the type information on the kind of a workpiece (stamp orlabel sheet), and the carving size or the like, according to aninstruction from dedicated human interface software that runs on theterminal device 90. The monochromatic image data of the seal pattern andthe type information on the workpiece which are input are stored in thememory in the terminal device 90.

Next, the user sets the porous impression die 101 on the pedestal 51 ofthe attachment 50, and places the attachment 50 on the tray 15discharged from the apparatus 10. When a manipulation of mounting theattachment 50 is performed, the tray 15 is loaded into the seal carvingapparatus 10 to retain the attachment 50. Then, after a predeterminedinitialization process is performed by the seal carving apparatus 10,seal carving of the porous impression die 101 is automatically carriedout.

When the seal carving is completed, the tray 15 is automaticallydischarged. The user can take out the attachment 50 from the tray 15,and obtain the porous impression die 101 with the seal face formedthereon. As illustrated in FIG. 12, attaching the ink impregnated member110 and the holder 112 to the porous impression die 101 with the sealformed thereon provides the porous stamp assembly 100 that has a uniqueseal pattern as ordered.

2. Processing by Seal Carving Apparatus

Next, the seal carving operation of the seal carving apparatus 10 isdirection referring to FIGS. 16, 17A and 17B. The seal carving operationof the seal carving apparatus 10, which is mainly illustrated in aflowchart of FIG. 16, is achieved as a CPU included in the controldevice 11 executes an arithmetic operation according to a program storedin memory means such as the ROM 19 b.

First, when a manipulation of discharging the tray 15 is accepted (stepS10: YES), loading control means included in the control device 11controls the loading mechanism 16 to load the tray 15 to the dischargeposition in next step S11. Then, the user mounts the attachment 50 onthe tray 15 (FIG. 17A(I)). The loading control means loads the tray 15to the first load-in position according to the manipulation of loadingthe tray 15 inside (FIG. 17A(II)), and the photosensors 17S, 17D readthe dot pattern of the perforations 53, 53, . . . formed in theattachment 50 (step S12). The dot pattern of the perforations 53, 53, .. . may be read at the position where the attachment 50 is mounted onthe tray 15 or a position at which the attachment 50 is retained furtherinside (e.g., an origin position to be described later or in thevicinity thereof).

In subsequent step S13, the control device 11 identifies the type of themounted attachment 50 and the type (kind and carving size) of theworkpiece set on the attachment 50 based on the read dot pattern. Theidentified type information of the workpiece may be displayed on thedisplay part 18 of the seal carving apparatus 10. In step S14,consistency between the type information on the workpiece input to theterminal device 90 and the type of the attachment 50 and/or the typeinformation on the workpiece, both identified from the dot pattern ofthe attachment 50, is determined. When those information are notconsistent with each other (step S14: NO), an error may be displayed onthe display part 18 in step S15, and retaining of the attachment 50 maybe refused. In this way, the reading means (photosensors 17S, 17D) canread the dot pattern to identify the type of a workpiece at the time theattachment 50 is mounted, which is prior to the initiation of thecarving. This makes it possible to prevent an improper processingmanipulation or the like.

When it is determined that the type information are consistent with eachother (step S14: YES), in step S16, the loading control means of thecontrol device 11 controls the control device 11 to load the tray 15 andthe attachment 50 to a second load-in position which lies further insidethe seal carving apparatus 10. The process of identifying the type ofthe workpiece based on the dot pattern in step S13, and the process ofdetermining the consistency of the type information in step S14 may beperformed at the origin position to be described later or a nearbyposition at which the attachment is retained. In this case, when thereis not the consistency of the type information, the tray 15 may bereturned to the discharge position. This can prompt the user to redo themanipulation.

In step S17, the tray 15 and the attachment 50 are mounted in the sealcarving apparatus 10, and the photodetectors 17D as the reading meansexamine the setting state of the porous impression die 101 or theworkpiece on the attachment 50 (FIG. 17A(III)). When the porousimpression die 101 is not set on the attachment 50 or is not properlyset thereon (step S17: NO), an error is displayed on the display part 18in step S18, and the tray 15 is returned to the discharge position. Thiscan prompt the user to set the workpiece on the attachment 50.

When it is determined that the porous impression die 101 is properly seton the attachment 50 (step S17: YES), in next step S21, the gradationdata preparing means included in the terminal device 90 preparesgradation image data from monochromatic image data. For example, thegradation data preparing means prepares gradation image data correctedin such a way that the pixel value monotonously changes stepwise in theboundary region where the value of the monochromatic image data forwhite/black is reversed. In step S22, the driving amount conversionmeans of the control device 11 converts the gradation image data toprepare driving amount data for the individual heat generating elements12 a.

In step S21, the gradation data preparing means may prepare gradationimage data from monochromatic image data in view of a non-linearcorrelation between the driving amount of the heat generating elementswhich has been measured beforehand, and the ink permeability. In stepS22, the driving amount conversion means may prepare driving amount datafrom gradation image data in view of the non-linear correlation.

In next step S23, the tray 15 and the attachment 50 are loaded to thedeepest position (third load-in position; origin position), at which anorigin sensor 30 is turned ON, thereby setting the origin of the loading(FIG. 17A(IV)). As the origin sensor 30, a photosensor that sensesblocking of light when the tray 15 or the attachment 50 contacts thephotosensor can be used. The origin may be set at the position where thetray 15 and the attachment 40 are discharged outside as illustrated inFIG. 17(I) (discharge position). In next step S24, the control device 11determines a carving start position based on the type of the workpieceand the information on the carving size which are identified from thedot pattern of the perforations 53. In step S25, the loading controlmeans controls the loading mechanism 16 to move the porous impressiondie 101 to the determined carving start position.

After the porous impression die 101 of the workpiece is moved to thecarving start position, the control device 11 determines the heatingheight position of the thermal head 12 based on the kind of theworkpiece identified from the dot pattern of the perforations 53 in stepS26. The “heating height position” corresponds to the height position atwhich the thermal head 12 abuts on the porous impression die 101. Instep S27, the control device 11 controls the elevation mechanism 14 tomove the thermal head 12 downward to the determined heating heightposition. At this stage, the thermal head 12 abuts on the porousimpression die 101 located at the carving start position (FIG. 17B(V)).

In step S28, the thermal drive control means of the control device 11performs PWM controls on the thermal drive means 13 according to oneline of driving amount data to selectively and thermally drive the heatgenerating elements 12 a on the thermal head 12. Accordingly, the porousimpression die 101 is thermally carved by one line. In next step S29,the loading control means of the control device 11 controls the loadingmechanism 16 to move the porous impression die 101 by a one-line widthin the load-out direction. The control device 11 performs seal carvingline by line by repeating the processes of steps S28 and S29 (FIG.17B(VI)). When completion of the processing of the last end line isdecided in step S30 (FIG. 17B(VII)), the tray 15 is loaded to thedischarge position in step S31. Accordingly, the user can acquire theporous impression die 101 with the seal pattern formed thereon.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, the seal carving may be carried out whilemoving the porous impression die 101 in the load-in direction. That is,the control device 11 determines the carving start position (at theright end in FIG. 18) after setting the origin, and controls the loadingmechanism 16 to move the porous impression die 101 to the determinedcarving start position (FIG. 18(I)). Then, the control device 11performs PWM control to thermally drive the heat generating elements 12a on the thermal head 12 while controlling the loading mechanism 16 tomove the porous impression die 101 line by line in the load-in direction(FIG. 18(II)). Upon completion of the processing of the last end line(the left end in FIG. 18) of the porous impression die 101, the sealcarving is completed (FIG. 18(III)).

The seal carving apparatus 10 for a porous material and the seal carvingmethod for the apparatus according to the embodiment can accurately forma seal having a gradation as specified by image data. In particular, itis possible to accurately form a seal as specified by givenmonochromatic image data, which has the contour of a print portionsubjected to gradation correction. Further, with the same carvingaccuracy, the carving time can be shortened compared with theconventional apparatus and method. In addition, the PWM control providesa uniform driving amount for the individual heat generating elementsduring a period of one-line carving, so that residual heat in thethermal head can be reduced, thereby reducing the influence of heat thatis transmitted to a nearby porous material.

Although the preferred embodiments of the seal carving apparatus and theseal carving method according to the invention have been described, thetechnical concept of the invention shall not be construed to be limitedto the embodiments described herein. Persons skilled in the art maychange or improve those embodiments as needed without departing from thesubject matter or technical concept of the invention. The peripheraltechniques relating to seal carving apparatuses involving such changesor improvements should be understood to be encompassed within thetechnical scope of the invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10 Seal carving apparatus-   11 Control device-   12 Thermal head-   12 a Heat generating elements-   13 Thermal drive means-   14 Elevation mechanism-   15 Tray-   16 Loading mechanism-   17S, 17D Reading means (photosensors)-   21 Oscillator-   22 Line period signal generator-   23 Loading control means-   24 Thermal drive control means-   25 Frequency divider-   27 Base signal counter-   28 DA converter-   29 Comparator-   30 Origin sensor-   50 Attachment-   51 Mount-   90 Terminal device-   100 Porous stamp assembly-   101 Porous impression die-   102 Porous film-   103 Frame-   112 Holder-   110 Ink impregnated member

What is claimed is:
 1. A seal carving apparatus including a thermal headhaving a plurality of heat generating elements disposed in lines,loading means that moves the thermal head and a porous material inrelative to each other with the thermal head being in abutment with theporous material, and thermal drive control means that performs a controlprocess of selectively and thermally driving the individual heatgenerating elements line by line while making the relative movement tocarry out melt-solidification of the porous material, thereby forming aseal, wherein the thermal drive control means performs PWM control on apulse time width for thermally driving the individual heat generatingelements based on gradation image data having a gradation value to formthe seal on the porous material.
 2. The seal carving apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the thermal drive control means performs PWM controlon driving amounts of the individual heat generating elements with aduty ratio of the pulse time width for a period of a modulation basesignal which differs from a period of a carving period signal forforming one line of the seal.
 3. The seal carving apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein the period of the modulation base signal is set shorterthan the period of the modulation base signal for forming one line ofthe seal.
 4. The seal carving apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe thermal drive control means controls the pulse time width by settingan amplitude of a drive current that is supplied to the individual heatgenerating elements constant.
 5. The seal carving apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising: gradation data preparing means thatprepares the gradation image data having the gradation value based onmonochromatic image data representing a given seal pattern; and drivingamount conversion means that converts the prepared gradation image datato driving amount data of the individual heat generating elements,wherein the thermal drive control means performs PWM control on drivingamounts of the individual heat generating elements with a duty ratiocorresponding to the driving amount data.
 6. The seal carving apparatusaccording to claim 5, wherein the gradation data preparing meansprepares gradation image data corrected in such a way that a pixel valuemonotonously changes stepwise in a boundary region where a value of themonochromatic image data is inverted.
 7. A porous stamp produced using aseal carving apparatus including a thermal head having a plurality ofheat generating elements disposed in lines, and control means thatperforms a control process of selectively and thermally driving theindividual heat generating elements while moving the thermal head and aporous material in relative to each other with the thermal head being inabutment with the porous material, thereby forming a seal on the porousmaterial, wherein based on monochromatic image data representing a givenseal pattern, the control means prepares gradation image data correctedin such a way that a pixel value monotonously changes stepwise in aboundary region where a value of the monochromatic image data isinverted, and the control means thermally drives the individual heatgenerating elements by a driving amount based on the gradation imagedata, thereby forming a seal with a gradation on the porous stamp.